Etihad Airways Etihad Guest - Celebs on Etihad

BA have a long thread about celebrities spotted on BA. Has anyone spotted a celeb on Etihad?

I have not but then I tend to wander around in a daze while my kids say "hey mum that was........." which by the time I look in the right direction, said celeb is long gone.

Flew out on Jan 2nd this year. Was in the lounge prior and whole England cricket entourage was in there. Cleaned out the front of the plane when we boarded!

Was flying on LHR-AUH sector on EY in first class and there were 10 members of the royal Abu Dhabi family taking the whole 10 seats in first class. Only me and another passenger took the rest two seats.

Belgian crown prince Philip with princess Mathilde and their 3 children were on a BRU-AUH flight a few months back sitting in the first row of economy class (saving Belgian tax payers some money?)

(saving Belgian tax payers some money?)

That is the worst part of being a royalty :D

Belgian crown prince Philip with princess Mathilde and their 3 children were on a BRU-AUH flight a few months back sitting in the first row of economy class (saving Belgian tax payers some money?)

Interesting. If my country still had royalty (thanks god it does not) I would not want to spot them in economy class. What a lack of style.

I once saw Matthew Pinsent in the LHR lounge. Around the same time that Etihad sponsored the Gaelic Games finals in Abu Dhabi.

I was in the EY lounge in AUH (flying to LHR) the day the Abu Dhabi GP finished in 2010 and was sat opposite Damon Hill. There were a number of other F1 presenters/ pundits, etc dotted around too :)

I was in the EY lounge in AUH (flying to LHR) the day the Abu Dhabi GP finished in 2010 and was sat opposite Damon Hill. There were a number of other F1 presenters/ pundits, etc dotted around too :)

As an F1 fan I would have been in seventh heaven! :)

I've seen Patrick Viera, former Arsenal, Inter Milan and France international, at Abu Dhabi Airport. I guess with Manchester City's links to Abu Dhabi, he often does the MAN-AUH flight.

As I work as an agent for Etihad in BRU, I've spotted quite some celebs here's a list from the people I've seen (and can remember):

Members of the royal household
Robbie McEwen
Franky Vercauteren (not a real celeb, but a well known soccer coach in Belgium)
Lou Deprijck (very famous singer in the 70's; member of Lou and the Hollywood Bananas)
Close family of the Sheikh from Abu Dhabi himself
Eddy Merckx
Tom Boonen
And maybe the most famous off all: DJ Tiesto

Lewis Hamilton quite recently in the AUH F lounge.

There is rather a large royal family in Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Zayed had more than 25 children IIRC.

Lewis Hamilton quite recently in the AUH F lounge.

There is rather a large royal family in Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Zayed had more than 25 children IIRC.

It was his wife with 3 of his sons. I forgot their names, but can you blame me for that? It's impossible to get all those names :rolleyes:

It was his wife with 3 of his sons. I forgot their names, but can you blame me for that? It's impossible to get all those names :rolleyes:

The late president had several wives over the years, 5 on the record. As for the current president, can't imagine any of his immediate entourage flying commercial, they have the Amiri Flight (BBJs) ready to go at any time.
Could it have been someone in their extended family with the HH titles?

I heard in the KSA there are like 25k-30k people with the HH title, so wouldn't be surprised if it's a similar story in the UAE with least a thousand carrying the title, most of them not having the wealth to afford private air travel as would be expected.

The late president had several wives over the years, 5 on the record. As for the current president, can't imagine any of his immediate entourage flying commercial, they have the Amiri Flight (BBJs) ready to go at any time.
Could it have been someone in their extended family with the HH titles?

I heard in the KSA there are like 25k-30k people with the HH title, so wouldn't be surprised if it's a similar story in the UAE with least a thousand carrying the title, most of them not having the wealth to afford private air travel as would be expected.

Nope, it was his his immediate family as we where directly briefed by the country manager (who of course almost exploded from the stress; as did we), protocol was present the whole time and police forces where in the neighboorhood as well. They didn't just check in at the counter, that's why protocol was there. But we did catch a glimpse as they where escorted by a more then impressive convoy of vehicles to the airplane.
It is very rare they do fly commercialy, but it does happen. Not to mention the plane exceptionally had the First class service. No one, except for them where allowed inside. Seems a bit of an odd story, but it's a true one. I'm very proud I was able to be part of it :-) And the funniest thing was: all of a sudden security was a whole lot tighter then usual...